


Beyond (Star)Light's Reach

by ALittleBitofThis



Category: The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Abandonment, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Buried Alive, Or is there?, Pre 2x07, Set before Episode 2x07, Trapped, Whumptober 2020, but also out of time, collapsed building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:22:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleBitofThis/pseuds/ALittleBitofThis
Summary: I said I'd do Whumptober for OC's only, but Hughie is just so, so whumpable. So, I dropped a building on him. The Boys search for him, but they're running out of time before the Seven arrive. This is my first fic for this fandom, but I love this show. Set before 2x07
Comments: 19
Kudos: 62
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Beyond (Star)Light's Reach

“Split up, earpieces on, shout if you see ‘em,” Butcher said. The Boys split up, each taking different directions or buildings on the block. They’d been confronting a supe terrorist in the hopes of allyship, but said terrorist had rushed off as soon as they saw Starlight.

“I’m not even in the Seven anymore,” Annie muttered as she walked.

“Well, Vought hasn’t exactly admitted that,” Hughie responded in her earpiece. His voice eased her frustration some. Vought had come up with some story about her going on a personal mission.

“Okay lovebirds, I think I see movement in the brick building, third floor, the top one,” Mother’s Milk interrupted.

“I’m on the second floor,” Hughie said. He went back to the staircase and ascended another level. He leaned against the wall and peaked around the door. The terrorist was looking out into the courtyard.

“Hey,” Hughie said quietly. The terrorist spun around and his hands flared red. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I come in peace.” Hughie held his own hands up.

“We want to talk to you. That’s all, just talk,” Hughie continued. “We can work together to take down the people who did this to you.” The man looked down at his glowing hands. “Yeah. The Seven wants—“

“I’m not working for Vought!” The man insisted, his whole body beginning to glow.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant! We fight—“

The man grew to an even brighter light, and Hughie closed his eyes, instinctively shielding himself from the heat with his arms. He was blasted back, and the whole world seemed to shake. Hughie’s back hit the wall, knocking the wind out of him, and it felt like the world was closing in.

Everyone looked toward the building as chunks of brick went flying outward, creating a growing sphere-shape. Then, as if caught in a tractor beam, the debris came tumbling back in, the building collapsing inward.

“Hughie!” Annie yelled. She sprinted for the building. The rest of The Boys met her at the edge of the rubble, but she didn’t stop there. She ran to the center.

“What the fuck happened?” Mother’s Milk searched for any sign of him.

“Hughie, let us know you’re alive, son,” Butcher said urgently. He looked at Frenchie. “How do we find ‘im?”

Frenchie shook his head, “We’d need search dogs, or an x-ray. We don’t have that long. We’re only ten miles from Vought. They’ll be here soon.”

Hughie felt a sharp pain in his chest and something rough pressing against his cheek. A high ringing filled his ears. He tried to turn his head, but the cheek barrier wouldn’t let him. It was pitch black except for the green light blinking from his earpiece. The transmitter was a few feet away; it must’ve fallen out of his ear in the blast.

Hughie tried to move. His chest stung, his right arm couldn’t move at all, and he desperately wished he could turn to see why. Hughie lifted his left arm toward the transmitter, and he got part-way there, but it was too far. The movement of his arm tugged painfully at his chest anyway, so all he was able to determine was that he was on the edge of a shallow pocket. He let his arm drop.

“Starlight,” Butcher called.

“I can find him!” Annie yelled back. She only paused her hurried search when she found a chunk of brick wall that was the length of a limousine. “Kimiko?”

“We don’t have time,” Butcher said, but Kimiko ran past him to go help Starlight. He tossed his hands up. “MM.”

Mother’s Milk frowned. He knew he wouldn’t be able to make any meaningful impact on the rubble, as much as he wanted to find Hughie. He hated it, but Butcher was probably right. He clasped his hands behind his head, searching for a solution. “We won’t be able to find him before Vought shows up.”

“We need to try,” Annie insisted. Frenchie stood in thought as well, watching the girls tear through the rubble.

“They were on the top floor. He might be close to the surface,” Frenchie added, with the slightest tinge of hope.

“What would you have us do, Butcher, leave him to die?” Annie hissed as she tossed more debris aside.

“If the Seven find us here, we  _ all _ die,” Butcher argued.

“He has a point,” Mother’s Milk reasoned. “But we should still look.” Kimiko paused and then zipped over to Frenchie, trying to sign an idea. Frenchie blinked, struggling to understand what she was saying. A house, her wrist, sleeping, searching?

“He wouldn’t leave me,” Starlight said, and she knew it was true.

“We would drag him away,” Butcher insisted. “He wouldn’t want you to die too.” The others all turned to look at him at the word ‘too’. “I’m just saying, we don’t even know he’s alive under there.” Butcher spoke loudly into his mic. “Hughie. Say something,” Starlight paused, listening closely.

Hughie heard the staticky message faintly escaping his earpiece, only a bit louder than the arguing that was mixing together in his mind. Hughie tried. He breathed in as deep as he could manage (which wasn’t much) and yelled for them. All that came out was a weak wheeze.

“Nothing,” Mother’s Milk sighed. He paced nervously.

“You want us to wait and hide?” Frenchie asked. Kimiko nodded. Butcher latched onto the idea. He didn’t intend on coming back until he was sure it was safe, but it might get the rest of the group to leave.

“We can loop around until the Supes clear the area,” Butcher said. “If he’s alive, they’ll find him.”

“And they’ll kill him,” Annie argued.

“Maybe not,” Mother’s Milk said. “He’d be good bait for the rest of us.”

“Are you kidding?” Annie stared at him.

“It’s the best shot we’ve got,” Mother’s Milk said. Kimiko climbed the pile and grabbed Annie’s hand. She motioned something that Annie didn’t understand, but she got the general impression Kimiko was attempting reassurance.

“Look,” Frenchie pointed off in the distance, where static lightning was flashing.

“We have to go,” Mother’s Milk frowned.

“I’ll get the van,” Butcher hurried off to where they left it.

“Annie,” Mother’s Milk stared her in the eyes. “I promise you we will come back for him as soon as it’s safe, but we can’t stay here.” Kimiko tugged on Annie’s hand. Thunder crackled closer to them. Annie looked between the Boys and the rubble, conflicted. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t decide to stay or go, so when Kimiko started pulling her toward the van, she just stumbled after her dumbly.

Hughie couldn’t understand much after his warbled attempt at making a noise, as his head increased its steady throbbing. A quiet rumble made him uneasy. Was there going to be a storm, or was the building going to collapse further? He tried to move again, but he was thoroughly pinned. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment.

He didn’t hear much more above him, not for a while, and he assumed his hearing had just petered out. Hughie coughed, realizing with horror that there was some blood in his mouth. He opened his eyes again. Hughie tried not to panic. He’d never liked tight spaces, especially now that tight spaces were threatening to kill him, if he wasn’t already dead. No, if he were dead, he shouldn’t be feeling pain. He didn’t think so, at least. Hughie closed his eyes. He needed a nap. He coughed again, waking himself back up, but he soon settled back into place.

Hughie twisted his left arm just to check that he still could. He rested his head against something that felt ridged like rebar. His friends had to be above him, searching for him. He knew it. He was sure of it. All he had to do was wait. Hughie thought of his friends, working hard to find him, worrying about him, and he smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this. Should Homelander find him? Should Annie? Should he die before anyone finds him at all?


End file.
